Miami Heat coach Eric Spoelstra, a Filipino American who has close ties to his mother’s homeland in the Philippines, suddenly has competition as the most popular professional coach in that hoops crazed country in Malaysia..
Manny Pacquiao, who has won 10 world championships in eight different divisions and is the current WBO welter weight champion, is taking over as a basketball caoch of a new expansion team sponsored by KIA Motors the Philippine Basketball Association. He was introduced this week. The season is scheduled to start this October.
“Well, I’m not taking a boxing job,” Spoelstra joked at the NBA championship series. “But I know he’s a huge basketball fan, so it doesn’t surprise me.”
Pacquiao’s love for basketball is no secret, and he told a crowded press conference in Manila that the job is no publicity stunt. He has also started to put together a coaching staff. Former PBA star Glenn Capracio will serve as the boxer’s assistant coach. The team’s roster will be made up of players selected in an expansion draft.
Aside from boxing and his new ventue in basketball, Pacquiao has participated in acting, music recording and politics. In May 2010, Pacquiao was elected to the House of Representatives in the 15th Congress of the Philipppines, repesenting the province of Sarangani. He was re-elected in 2013 to the 16th Congress.
His coaching career may get off to a late start. Pacquiaco’s next fight is scheduled for November, shortly after the PBA season begins. The opponent remains unclear, though there’s speculation it could be a fifth bout against Juan Manuel Marquez. Pacquiao has been fighting professionally since age 16 and is 56-5-2 in his brilliant career. Spoelstra is planning to visit the Philippines this summer. “Maybe I’ll check out a practice,” he said.
